The Latest from VEA

Chanting, cheering, and with a growing sense of urgency, VEA members turned the State Capitol into a sea of red Monday for Lobby Day, demanding that legislators finally put their funding money where their campaign mouths have long been.

“It’s way past time for them to live up to their obligations to the children of this Commonwealth and to the people who work with them!” boomed VEA President Jim Livingston to an enthusiastic crowd of over 2,000, who responded raucously as Livingston added a promise: “We will be ever vigilant to hold them accountable for what they’ve promised they would do—and if they don’t vote to support our students and our schools, we’ll help them pack their stuff and go!”

Two examples of why Livingston and VEA members feel so strongly: Virginia ranks 40th in the United States in state funding for public education on a per-pupil basis, and our state’s teachers are paid $8,500 less than the national average.

Union members and public education supporters came to Richmond in busloads, spending the morning meeting with elected officials before the noontime rally took over Capitol grounds. There, Fauquier kindergarten teacher Lauren Brill, president of the Fauquier Education Association, kicked off the festivities by firing a list of questions at the crowd. She wondered if any of the educators in attendance had ever paid for classroom supplies out of their own pockets, lost sleep over one of their students, had their physical and mental health affected by their work, had considered quitting, and were living paycheck to paycheck, and the crowd roared in response to each question.